The Transformation of Your Company Culture With Employee Advocacy

Social media is a land in which decision makers are increasingly present and consumers call the shots, meaning amplification and visibility are two major benefits of employee advocacy. However, they are not the only reasons for launching an advocacy program.

With so much focus placed on the external advantages of engaging employees on social media (such as tapping into new audiences and boosting the reach of content marketing campaigns); it’s easy to neglect the many internal benefits employee advocacy provides. So while companies are right to approach employee advocacy with a view to boosting content diffusion; they should also take the time to analyze what can be gained within the organization itself.

Embracing Open Communication at All Levels

As well as boosting their awareness of company-wide developments; brand advocacy encourages employees to communicate about company news on their own personal social networks. Which is something they may not be used to doing. This shift in company culture requires management teams to lead by example. Social media is a legitimate and highly effective communication tool. But in order for employees to have confidence in what they share as well as how they share it, the C-Suite needs to lead by doing.

When they do this, they encourage an environment in which social media is no longer a taboo topic; and then company activity is shared through individual employee advocates, as well as brand accounts. But beyond social media, empowering employees to communicate about company activity increases their sense of involvement and drives a culture based on ownership and open communication. By aggregating company content, employee advocacy platforms help break down organizational silos; making it easier for teams and business units to communicate transversally about their respective activity.

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Driving Professional Development

Not only does having all brand content available in one place increase employees’ awareness of company activity; but having the opportunity to share it on their own personal networks allows them to boost their influence and position themselves as thought leaders regarding specific topics.

Whether it’s social sellers sharing insights into industry trends or HR teams promoting examples of successful training initiatives, advocacy enables employees to demonstrate their expertise by sharing content that is in line with brand messages as well as their own personal brand. This is incredibly important because clients, prospects, partners, and future employers are viewing employees’ online profiles.

But successful social media communication goes beyond engaging selected teams. Potential clients can pop up on any social network and their first point of contact may not necessarily be with a member of the sales team. The advantage of brand advocacy is that it informs and engages all employees to share content and communicate with interested parties; thus contributing to the online lead generation cycle.

Successful employee advocacy doesn’t just amplify brand communication. It boosts internal communication and drives employees’ professional development; and also enables all employees to support marketing, social selling and recruitment activity. To find out more about launching an employee advocacy initiative that offers support in these areas, discover Sociabble’s Customer Success Program.